Listen, it has been a bumpy ride for Joe Girardi this season.

We don’t need to relitigate the hiccups after a good win, but there have been some head-scratchers from the Phillies manager throughout his team’s first 85 games.

It’s easy to shit on a manager when things go wrong. Maybe his lineup gets its doors blown off. Maybe he makes a questionable call to the bullpen — like going to a reliever who had been out of the big leagues for nearly four years in a key situation. Twice.

Those decisions will rightfully get picked apart, but when the manager hits on his gambles, he should get some credit.

So a tip of the cap to Girardi, who arguably had his best game with the Phillies in this one, for rolling the dice with Brad Miller and Travis Jankowski over the hot-hitting Rhys Hoskins and Andrew McCutchen.

It was a ballsy call. Hoskins had four extra-base hits in the series. McCutchen has been one of the hottest hitters in the sport.

But Girardi took a look at the platoon splits of Cubs right-handed starter Adbert Alzolay and opted to go left-handed heavy with his lineup.

Right-handed hitters entered the night with a .529 OPS against Alzolay, compared to a .932 OPS produced by left-handed hitters.

As it turns out, the ballsy call was also the right call.

Miller starred in the Phillies’ 8-0 rout of the Cubs, a win that secured just their second road series victory of the season. He paced the offense, homering three times and driving in five runs.

“He had a really tough June, but July, he’s hit the ball extremely hard,” Girardi said of Miller after the game. “We just liked the matchup. We talked about it, and he came up big for us, really big for us tonight.”

Did Girardi see Miller’s power surge coming? Hard to say, but one Phillies beat writer did.

Asked after the game if he derives any extra satisfaction from a successful gamble amid a season of heavy scrutiny, Girardi offered some perspective.

“I’ve done it long enough to understand this is just part of the job and every decision that we make as a team and as a coaching staff is thought out,” he said. “But there’s always a human element, and you have to understand that sometimes things aren’t just going to work out.”

Miller’s second homer of the night scored Jankowski, who reached after a perfectly-executed bunt base hit.

He then came to the plate in the seventh inning with a chance to become the first Phillies hitter to launch three homers in a game since Jayson Werth did it back on May 16, 2008.

Miller, who told reporters after the game that he’s always looking to “do damage” and hit homers, matched Werth’s feat.

“It was incredible, I mean, it was awesome,” Phillies starter Zach Eflin said. “Just in general, just to have a three-homer game, especially at Wrigley Field, that’s special. None of them were cheap shots. He absolutely crushed all three of them.”

In a fun twist, Miller’s parents were on hand to watch their son’s historic night.

“It was really special. First time, this series, playing at Wrigley with fans and a place I came growing up,” Miller said. “My parents here. Getting the start here, to be able to go three out of four when obviously we need everyone. A lot of cool things, but yeah, I felt like I was dreaming, for sure.”

Miller’s effort provided more than enough offense for Eflin.

After working out of a 27-pitch first-inning jam, he settled in to blank Cubs hitters over six innings. He scattered five hits and a walk en route to earning his fourth win of season, capping a solid first half.

“I thought it could have gone a lot better,” he said. “I’m happy with the way I battled, especially when my back’s been against the wall. I could have done without a couple outings, but that’s baseball. I’m healthy, I feel great heading into the break.”